Loving and believing in Jesus is the core of all Christians. Being a Christian does not mean that we will live a charmed life, that we will have it all, that success is a certainty and that Jesus will never let us feel pain and sorrow. Jesus gives his love to all of his creations regardless of what we do, what we have achieved, and what we are. Jesus loves us unconditionally. He sees the whole picture. What we consider as the milestones of success and failure might not be the same measuring stick he uses to measure our success and failure. What we see as a mustard-seed-size success will grow “and become the largest of the plants in the garden and even grow branches so big that the birds of the air can take shelter in its shade.” It may not bear fruit now but it will blossom under his direction in the future.
“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” (Vaclav Havel) Think back in your life. Were there incidents in your life in which you thought you worked hard for something but received little success? Or when failure, pain and sufferings were your constant companions? Or when you cried out to the Lord for help and received none? Now look back in hindsight. Was that part of your life an integral part of who you are and where you are now?
Pray for the grace to receive the strength to trust in the Lord all of who you are and all that you do. For only he knows what is in store for us and will give us what is the best for us.
